Question

please help! What is the empirical formula for a compound that has 1 mole of nitrogen and 2.5 moles of oxygen?

Answer 1

Answer:

$N_{2}O_{5}$

Explanation:

usually, the first step is to calculate the moles but since that is already given in the question we can move onto the next step

least molar ratio:

N = $\frac{1}{1}$ = 1

O = $\frac{2.5}{1}$ = 2.5

when the answer is in decimals we will multiply it by an integer in order to make it a whole number (in this case 2)

O = 2.5(2) = 5

in order to balance, we will also multiply the atoms of N by the same integer

N = 1(2) = 2

thus, the empirical formula is $N_{2}O_{5}$